With most of 2024 in the rearview mirror, the ETF landscape looks set to mark another big year. Should ETF flows continue their strong pace, they could not only hit a new record, but also surpass $1 trillion for the year. Overall YTD flows sit at just under $820 billion. That would further cement ETFs’ ascendancy since the “ETF Rule” in 2019 kicked product launches into overdrive.
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Looking to October specifically, certain areas stood out, according to data from FactSet. Overall equity ETF inflows for the month came in at $77 billion. That marked an outsized contribution for the YTD margin of $524 billion. In smaller terms, commodities turned into positive territory almost entirely due to October. Commodity ETFs added $3.5 billion in October, lifting the YTD margin to just over $3 billion.
“Advisor adoption of ETFs has been strong, with a wide range of equity, fixed income, and even cryptocurrency products gaining acceptance,” said VettaFi’s Head of Research Todd Rosenbluth. “We likely will set a new record for net inflows and could even hit a $1 trillion. It’s a great time in the ETF industry.”
Looking to individual ETF flows, while some key names have contributed massively, other, smaller names have surprised. According to ETF Database data, the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) has led the way YTD. The fund has gathered more than $86 billion in that time. Intriguingly, cryptocurrency ETFs have played a big role following the approval of spot bitcoin ETFs earlier this year. The iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) has gathered $26 billion YTD, per ETF Database data.
Looking ahead, should ETFs see just about $90 billion before the end of the year, it would set a new calendar record. If ETFs flows exceed that metric, they could hit $1 trillion for the year and mark a new chapter for the category.
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